I feel really comfortable with going for the reality of the drama, but I'm not much for the comedy of it. You have to make people laugh, or you have to be true to the character in such a way that makes people laugh. It's a whole different thing.
— Michael Pena
Some of the best bad guys in movies are funny and charming.
I don't know if I'm necessarily a role model, but hopefully I can inspire any artist - Latin or otherwise - to do this thing for a living.
One of my first real parts was 'Crash' - that won the Oscar.
There's something about coming up with something out of nothing. I work with somebody else's creation already, and I just try to make it better.
I'll read, like, ten scripts, and then sometimes if I'm lucky, there will be two or three scripts that I like, and sometimes they'll all be dramas, or they'll all be comedies, or there will be two dramas and a comedy, and then I'll go for whatever. If I have to audition, I'll audition. If it's an offer, great.
I don't know why - I have a ton of books: five full cabinets of them.
The only time that I really go on Twitter is to promote, because what sucks is there's some weird trolling going around. Even if you are well-intentioned, there's some mean people behind a keyboard.
I want to find my own rhythm and style. That's probably the harder way to approach it, but I think it will pay off in the long run.
I used to love those movies, back in the day, like 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Friday the 13th,' 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Shining.' I really liked those kind of movies, and I wanted to be a part of one of those kinds of movies.
My brother and my father both got laid off around the same that I was starting to do this movie 'Chavez.' And at the same time, it was when all the bailouts were happening.
I didn't know too much about 'Ant-Man.'
When you finish a drama, you go, 'I can't wait to do a comedy.' When you finish a comedy, you go, 'I want to do a dramedy, dark humor.'
The reason I love Lollapalooza is because it's a great music festival.
I'd love to work with Woody Allen.
'War on Everyone,' I think... the script was hilarious to me, but it's very dark, dark humor. It's super dark.
You know, one of my favorite movies that inspired me and got me started was 'Dead Poet's Society.'
I think nerves stop you from doing things. Make you stop and maybe make you withdraw. Then there's excitement where you can't wait to do it.
Play the role as a human being... human beings are three-dimensional.
It was an event whenever 'CHiPs' would come on in my house. There wasn't a lot of Latin people being hired to star in TV shows or movies back in the day. Not only was it a fun show, there was a Latino starring in it - so we thought it was extra cool.
I was on 'The Shield' for a year before 'Crash' came out, and it was like doing an independent film every week.
I'm envious of writers.
'Tower Heist?' That is a movie that it's hard not to name-drop, but, it's a crew of five, and it's Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, me, Matthew Broderick, and Casey Affleck. And we're like, on a heist.
Every script always goes through rewrites so that everyone loves it.
I've tested for I-don't-know-how-many pilots, and I didn't get any of them. I would always try to go off the top and make it as spontaneous as possible, but acting in sitcoms is such a skill set, and I didn't have it. I wish I did back when I was younger.
I'm living in Hollywood, and I'm making movies, but it goes beyond me. If my family is not doing very well, or even OK, you want them to be better.
I just wanted to be a part of something that's a horror movie that scares you.
I was in really good shape after I finished this movie, 'End of Watch.'
Seth Rogen told me to read 'Preacher,' and 'Preacher' was amazing.
Sometimes it's good to be naive.
I loved WWF as a kid.
One of my favorite movies is 'Broadway Danny Rose.'
Regardless of whatever job you do, you want to see the importance of it or how it can be important. I think by inspiring the people that I come from - if I inspire anyone - would be worth it.
My understanding, when I think of immigration, is like... you know, this country was built on immigrants: the German, the Polish, the Italian, the Jewish, the Russians, the Eastern Europeans. So, all these people came in, and I don't know who decided like, 'No, that's it! There's a cap on it! No more people.'
I want to become more successful.
I came to L.A. when I was 19, and my two roommates were blue-eyed, blond dudes. I helped coach them, and they both landed pilots.
When I first set out to do it, I wanted to be a working actor, and now it seems like it's superseded even my dreams.
I'm clearly not a writer, but I'm always a fan of them.
I have really good managers and agents who are very selective in what they send me.
I saw Gosling just kill it in 'Blue Valentine.' I thought he was just amazing at that, and I wouldn't mind maybe doing something like that.
A good director is like a good coach. You want to play for him. You want to really show him your good stuff. You don't want to let that person down. Ridley Scott is one of those guys.
Some of my favorite actors are Gene Wilder and Eddie Murphy back in the day - that's mainly what me and my brothers watched when we were kids.
I usually joke around, especially on set.
Some horror movies are just for shock value, so it doesn't really feel scary.
I don't know about you, but for me, if I got to present any kind of award, I'm shaking in my pants.
I'm super grateful, and whenever somebody offers me something, and I'm doing it, I always try to give 110%.
I used to live off of nothing.
'End of Watch' was 98-percent written, and I work really hard to make it look like it's the first time I'm saying it.
Drama is basically what I do, so it's a compliment that people think it's hard for me to get back to drama.
I went to a prep school in Chicago, and my dad and mom worked really hard - even though we lived in the ghetto - to get me to there. A lot of it had to do with 'Stand and Deliver' and 'Dead Poet's Society.' It does help you. It inspires you. It definitely did for me.
